Blog this!

sorry.


I have been a bad bad blogger. I also have been a bad bad Vlogger as well. I have been taking photos and videos, but I have not uploaded them. I have a new lap top from my new job, but it is not as easy on a PC as it was on a Mac. Yes, I will admit it. I LOVED LOVED my Mac. There were somethings that were backwards. Like how to minimize a screen. It is in the left corner, not the right with a Mac. On the Mac Book Pro lap top you spread your fingers and tap at the same time to "right" click. There are many other things that were different, but nothing a semi technological person couldn't figure out. Sorry, if I just offended anyone, but Macs are easier AND cooler than PCs. There I said it, now we can move on :-)

Aven is growing growing growing. She has had so much development in the past 2 months. It is hard to admit, but it has been 2 months since I posted a blog. *gasp* She goes for her 6 month check up on July 5th, so I will post her stats then. But she is sitting up assisted. Rolling over (both ways). Talking Chinese. Babbling, cooing, lots and lots of "motor boat" spitting. Andy took a video where she did it for almost 3 min straight, then after the camera went off she continued for over 1 hour!!!!


We have graduated to the next size in the prefold diapers. (Thanks again Tim and Anna). At first I was thinking she was too little for them, but with some creative diaper origami -- we got it. Most of the covers she has are lime green so I have been trying to put her into dresses and shirts that match them; but I think I am actually going to go out and buy some cute covers. I haven't purchased 1 diaper nor any accoutrements for our diapering system. I know what you are thinking..."Heather that is crazy! You haven't bought anything in the line of diapers?" Nope. We have been spared the expense because of the kindness of our family. =) But I think it is time. Aven deserves some new covers and darn it, who am I to get in the way of a girl and her shopping desires?


The weather down here is HOT. That is all I am going to say about that. It is summer and we live in the South. Duh. I hate the winter, so I am not going to complain. But because of how hot it is we were able to put up a baby pool and introduce Aven to water beyond her tub. She wasn't too sure of it at first, but then quickly warmed up. The water was sorta high and she kept trying to lean forward to play with her toys and she kept dunking herself. LOL She has her Daddy's skin tone so it was sunscreen and a hat for sure. Then Andy put up our deck furniture umbrella and we were all good. Yes we were in the front yard and yes we are total rednecks.






We have had some visitors as well. First, Courtney came down from CO. We had a great week with her. Very relaxing and did a lot of catching up. The last time she was here I discovered I was pregnant. Amazing how many things can happen in 1 year. Then Heidi came for a visit. I think she was the most spoiled of all of our visitors. Heidi kept Aven for the entire week instead of us putting her in day care. It was SO nice to come home and know 1) Aven was with family 2) she was taken care of as close to how I would take care of her if I were home and 3) I didn't have to pack up ALL of her baby things EVERY STINKING DAY. Seriously, it takes at least 45-1 hour out of my day just packing/unpacking her stuff and organizing things for the next day. I got to sleep in 30 min everyday. So so nice. I wish we could afford a nanny full time, but c'est la vie...


Our next round of visitors are Elaine and Al. They are going to be here over the July 4th weekend and the following week. We still need to see Grandpa Larry and Grandma and Grandpa Johnson this summer. My parents are moving to Kentucky Lakes (2 hours NW of Nashville) so they will only be 4.5 hours away. I see more weekend visits with them soon. And Larry usually makes his annual summer pilgrimage, so I am hoping that does not change this year.

Aven has a NEW cousin! Lorien Dawn Sweet was born on June 3rd. She was almost an 8lb baby! So precious and sweet looking. I can't wait to hold her. I am hoping maybe we can get up to IL soon, so I can. Although with my schedule, I am not so sure I will be able to see her before Christmas. :(




Work has been awesome. I LOVE my job. I am so blessed to be working for a company that I respect and respects me. I get to combine my 2 favorite things: telling people what to do (marketing ;-)) and talking about bikes/triathlon/Ironman. I am heading to Ironman Lake Placid to work the expo for Quintana Roo and then I am heading to Las Vegas for Interbike. So... my only option is going to IL in August. :-P August in Illinois-not so sure about that one. LOL We will see.

I am also wanting to do an Iron distance triathlon this fall. The Great Floridian is what I have my eye on right now. So fitting in training and mommy hood has been a challenge, but now that Andy has started me up on Training Peaks, things have been much easier to schedule. I highly recommend getting an account. You can log training rides/runs/swims. You can also keep a food log and they have menu planning too! If you have a coach you almost NEED to get an account. Riding has been a blast! I really love my new bike. Not just because I work for QR, but the CD0.1 is probably the coolest most responsive bike I have ever ridden. Wicked BA fo sho! I got a new pair of running shoes too. I think after training and running the St. Jude Marathon AND being pregnant in them...in the end they were similar to flip flops, to say the least. New shoes, new bike, now I need to get a new swim suit and I am good to go. I think I am going to head up to Fast Break and pick one up.

***BIG NEWS ALERT***

Heidi did her FIRST 5k when she was visiting!!! I was so lucky to be able to run with her. We did the Riverbend 5/10K and were able to run with Aven in the jogging stroller. We finished with 10:11 pace and we both were in the top 30% of our age groups! Starting in the back b/c of the pack because of the stroller, was less than ideal, but we weaved our way into a good spot and finished with smiles on our faces. I teared up knowing that when I was watching her cross the finish line (yes she beat me :-)) this was going to be her FIRST of many finishes and how freaking lucky I was to be able to be a part of that.

Before:

After!